


Easter TAG 2020

by HedwigsTalons



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Easter Bunny, Easter Egg Hunt, family fun day, novelty costumes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23684596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HedwigsTalons/pseuds/HedwigsTalons
Summary: Jeff decides the boys needs more fun in their life and reinstates the Tracy Industries family egg hunt
Kudos: 14





	Easter TAG 2020

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Easter TAG fic exchange organised by ak47stylegirl on Tumblr. Taylart-x set the prompts 'Annual Tracy egg hunt' and 'The rescue bunny'

Jeff looked over the reports and frowned. He was rapidly coming to realise that International Rescue had become an organisation that never slept. In many cases literally if the frequency of the mission logs was anything to go by. Birthdays and Christmas, once important events in the Tracy family calendar, were rarely celebrated on the correct day. He doubted they even knew when Easter fell each year that holiday had fallen so far down the priority list. The organisation he had returned to, and the men that ran it, were very different to what he had been forced away from by his unexpected exile to the Oort cloud. 

Or perhaps it wasn’t so different from what he had left behind. It was the same work ethic he himself had thrived on but now he had a better appreciation for finding a balance and spending time as a family. His boys had an unhealthy tendency to work themselves into the ground. Individually they might each get some time for relaxation but they were always on call and it was rare to get all five on the same planet. John’s primary residence was on board Thunderbird Five and while he came home more frequently than before a return to ‘business as usual’ had meant a return to having one son based at the space station. It had never been Jeff’s intention for the burden of manning the communications satellite to fall solely on the shoulders of one son but it seemed that is what had happened in his absence. 

If his sons’ sense of duty was preventing them from taking a break then he would call upon that same sense of duty and use it to his advantage; pleasure masquerading as work. A faint smile curled over his features as he formulated a plan. 

Jeff had already discovered that trying to be spontaneous only ended in disaster. The last time he had sprung a family day on them Scott and John between them had spent so long putting contingencies in place and making arrangements to divert the International Rescue systems that the plans had fallen flat. This time he would be more prepared. 

xoxoxox

The sight of Thunderbird One and Thunderbird Two parked up on the Domain behind the hospital was a familiar one for the residents of Auckland. As one of the largest hospitals in New Zealand and the site of the closest major trauma unit to International Rescue’s base of operations Auckland City Hospital played host to the operatives in blue more times than those same operatives would like. Patches of the open field were permanently scorched from repeated exposure to VTOL, so much so that the craft almost had their own parking bays marked out.

This time though Auckland was not worried about the health of its local heroes; they could see the pilots of the Thunderbirds, or at least four of them, arranged on the staging in front of the Auckland Museum. The grass in front of the staging was littered with brightly coloured rugs and blankets. Picnic hampers were dotted about and there was a distinct holiday feeling in the air. 

“Tell me again why I agreed to this.” The voice from inside the rabbit costume was slightly muffled and indistinct but still dripped with exasperation. As someone who lived most of their life in low Earth orbit, and often had to rely solely on verbal communication, John was able to convey an eye roll just through tone alone.

“Because, Johnny boy, someone had to wear the suit and the alternative is running around with the kids.” Gordon couldn’t resist the opportunity to throw in the loathed nickname, especially as John was unable to physically retaliate. A giant bunny smacking an International Rescue operative around the back of head would be bad PR, even if said bunny and operative were brothers. 

John had to concede that Gordon had a point. While he might be feeling the humiliation of playing the Easter bunny his brothers were tasked with being team captains in the upcoming egg hunt. The thought of being responsible for a score of hyped up and over-sugared children was not appealing. Nor was the thought of running around in gravity which would likely end up with him eating dirt. Perhaps the costume was the least embarrassing option after all. At least he was comfortable. He had his uniform on under the rabbit suit and the in-built thermal regulation system was keeping him nicely cool in the warm sunshine of early autumn. He could almost forget he was wearing the thick, furry oversuit.

The other advantage to being inside the suit was that no one could actually see him. John was never comfortable being in the public eye and being stood up on the staging in front of the arranged children and their families was making his squirm. He had to resist the urge to claw at the neck of the costume where it joined the oversized head piece. He also wished his brothers would lay off tweaking his tail.

Casting an eye over the crowd, and judging that any latecomers had been given sufficient time to get comfortable, Jeff stepped up the front of the staging. A hush settled over the assembled gathering and Jeff’s voice projected clearly; no microphone required. He was the boss after all.

“Welcome and thank you all for coming. From the very beginning Tracy Industries has been a family run company and I would like to think that it is still family orientated. Without your dedication to the company it would not be the success it is today. You are the most important element in the business. I have always felt the importance of coming together socially to build our working family outside of the office. Unfortunately, when my sons relocated head office to Auckland during my unintended absence it seems that these events were not continued. I feel it is time to resurrect the old traditions so I would like to thank you for coming along to the Tracy Industries Family Egg Hunt.”

There was a smattering applause from the families spread out on the picnic rugs. The reactions showed a clear division between the polite acknowledgement of those who had joined after Jeff went missing and the more enthusiastic response of those who had moved with the company when it relocated. 

Those who had worked for the company in Los Angeles, or who came from the even earlier days in Kansas, had been thrilled when the memo went round that Jeff was reinstating the holiday event. The events had been popular. Their enthusiasm had spilled around the offices and a healthy crowd had turned up to the Domain.

The five assembled sons felt a pang of guilt at their father’s words. They had done they best they could. Managing the conflicting demands of International Rescue and Tracy Industries after their father’s presumed death had been difficult. They had never asked to be thrust into the dual leadership roles so young. The social events were just one of the elements that had slipped.

“The rules today are simple. You must find the hidden eggs and return them to your team captain. You can only carry one egg at a time. No taking eggs from another player but if you catch an opposing team captain they will forfeit one of their collection and hand it over to you. No straying outside the playing area. The team with the most eggs at the end wins the prize. Now, can all the children taking part please go and join their allocated team captains and collect a coloured sash.”

The four brothers not clad in giant rabbit suits took their cue to jump down and start distributing simple cloth sashes to the excited crowd of children. Bands of red, yellow, green and blue were hastily shoved on as each child pledged allegiance to their favourite Thunderbird. 

The team captains made their way to the four corners of the playing field, followed by their broods like a troop of mother ducks with their ducklings. Jeff gave them time to take up their positions before speaking through the comms.

“Is everybody ready?”

He received four responses of “FAB”. 

Knowing how it would delight the children, and how proud Tracy Industries families were of their connection with International Rescue, Jeff started the obligatory.

“Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

His own “Thunderbirds are go!” was drowned out by the chorus of the field operatives shouted over the comms system.

Children began spreading out across the field, swooping down on the brightly coloured eggs laying in the grass or hidden at the base of trees. Three out of the four siblings could also be seen popping up on occasion to receive eggs from their team while trying to avoid being caught by the other players.

Jeff listened to the chatter over the open comms line. He gave a satisfied smile as the airwaves became filled with breathless laughter and good natured teasing. There hadn’t been enough laughter in his sons’ lives. 

While he felt it important to restart the Tracy Industries community events he also felt it important to let his sons be children again. Gone were the serious young men who held the weight of the world on their shoulders. The operatives, in their distinctive blue uniforms, were the biggest kids out there. It also gave him an insight into their differing characteristics.

Scott was ever the commander. His troops were spreading out with military precision. The blue team systematically swept the field. No stray egg was left behind as the team scoured first their own quadrant and then the wider area. 

Unfortunately the brave field commander seemed to have forgotten that his brothers were actively working against him rather than for him.

Gordon opened up a private comm line to Alan, temporarily muting their conversation from the wider network.

“Hey, Alan.”

“What‘s up?”

“How do you feel about joining forces and taking our esteemed older brother down a peg or two?”

“Which one?”

“Scott. But we will need to watch out for Virg too. I haven’t seen the jolly green giant since we started.”

“Me neither. So what’s the plan?”

The pair made a hurried plan, knowing that every moment they stayed off the main comms frequency they risked detection through their absence.

Virgil, from his vantage point on high, watched the events unfolding below. Opting to play a defensive game he had hauled himself up into a tree at the start of proceedings. One of the older children who had good throwing accuracy was stationed near by, ready to pass up any eggs the team collected. Let his siblings fight it out amongst themselves. He intended to keep hold of every single egg claimed by his intrepid green team. He was quite comfortable settled in the branches. He had even had the foresight to fill some of the equipment pouches on his uniform with snacks.

Scott has moved too far out into the open as his team performed their methodical sweep of the playing area. Alan had been able to circle his team behind the unsuspecting commander while Gordon directed his team round in a pincer movement. The trees and bushes that broke up the field provided excellent cover.

A blood curdling yell filled the air.

Alan, leading his band of red clad troops, broke cover and sprinted towards the unsuspecting Scott. The red and yellow teams together formed a natural funnel providing only one logical route of escape. The field commander took off at a sprint. He knew he would be able to easily out pace his younger sibling. He just needed to keep ahead until Alan ran out of steam.

What he hadn’t counted on was Gordon.

As he sprinted through a gap between two bushes Scott felt a solid weight slam into his side as Gordon launched himself in a low tackle. Blue and yellow tumbled into the dirt. Reflexes honed through years of training that had him rolling with the tackle and no damage was done but his run for freedom was well and truly curtailed. Not to be left out, Alan launched himself on top of the duo rolling on the floor. 

Children of all factions piled on top of the trio. All three brothers found their egg collection bags raided and scattered about the surrounding grass. 

Breaking out from the giggling, writhing mass of children the three Thunderbirds dusted themselves off. 

Blue, red and yellow all ended up worse off from the encounter. The green team, not to be left out, took advantage of the whole situation. While the other three teams just ended up swapping eggs between them the green team swooped in and carried off a fair portion to be handed to their still hidden captain.

“Well that went well”. Scott rolled his eyes at Alan and Gordon as all three looked at their much depleted haul.

“Worth it though” smirked Gordon. “You really are far too predictable.” 

“You do realise Mr I’m-So-Bad-At-Competitive-Games-I’ll-Just-Fake-Having-Something-Else-To-Do is likely to win now? We will never live this one down. Is he even still out here or has he sloped off for ice cream?”

“I heard that.” Virgil’s voice came through loud and clear over the comms. It was easy to forget they were running an open network and every word was being broadcast to their siblings and father. “And just for that I think I’ll give a copy of my body-cam footage to Kayo.”

This elicited a combined grimace from the three on the ground. Kayo would likely have severe words about Scott walking in to such a blatant trap. Severe words that would likely be punctuated by some very painful training sessions.

The three were about to go their separate ways to continue the game when a new and wholly unwelcome voice graced the airwaves. 

Grandma.

Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but she had stayed home to monitor the International Rescue systems with the help of Eos. This could only mean one thing.

“I’m sorry boys. We have a situation.”

xoxoxox

It was a weary set of operatives that trooped into the Tracy Island lounge goodness knows how many hours later. The incoming rescue call had required the skills of all five siblings and they had left their father behind to deal with the aftermath of the picnic and to make his own way home. Now all five were running on empty and just wanted to head off to bed but knew they needed to check in first.

“Another successful mission” yawned Scott. “You really didn’t need to wait up for us.”

“It’s my prerogative to wait up and worry about you” countered Jeff. 

He watched with fatherly concern as his boys trailed in behind their leader. Faces were lined with exhaustion. Uniforms were soot smudged and dirtied, bearing the marks of hard work and many hours of exertion in the danger zone. Thankfully none of them were displaying obvious signs of injury

His look of concern changed to one of mild amusement as his final son appeared from the hangers. Gone was the novelty headpiece and furry gloves but John still had the grey and white rabbit suit on over his uniform. Except now the costume was grey and more grey.

“Nice to see you keeping in the spirit of the holiday Son, but I think we now owe Tracy Industries a new costume.”

A look of puzzlement crossed John’s face. He was too tired for riddles. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes in an effort to stave off the wave of exhaustion and wiped away some of the soot from his face with the sleeve of his uniform.

Since when had his uniform been furry?

Comprehension dawned as he looked down. 

He shot an accusatory look at his brothers.

“Did no one think to tell me I still had this thing on?”

“Aw c’mon, it suits you.” Gordon was practically sniggering from the place he had claimed on the sofa.

“It’s hardly professional though. I mean, what must the local rescue services have thought? No wonder the local police liaison couldn’t look me in the eye.”

“Well the fire chief thought it was cute. She even went as far as to ask me if our very own rescue bunny was single.”

A faint flush could be seen under the grime that still smeared John’s face. He quickly turned and stalked off towards his Earthside bedroom.

“So, should I send her your number?” Gordon shouted after him.

“I hate you all” came the distant response. “Next year I’m staying on Five.”


End file.
